the commerce department reports that the united states economy grew 2.7%. business stock piles were bigger. so were the export sales which helped off set weak consumer spending. they are warning growth will slow again in the current quarter, that's because of the problems of sandy and the worries about 9 possibility of a big tax hike in january. >>> the epa is temporarily banning bp from getting any new contracts with the united states government. the epa said it's because of pb's lack of business integrity stemming the explosion and oil spill back in april of 2010. you remember 11 people were killed in that. almost 200 million-gallons of oil spilled into the gulf of mexico. two weeks ago bp agreed to plead guilty to criminal charges. also pay $4 billion in fines. >>> there is a new share older lawsuit over hp's purchase of a british software company. it's claiming that they all missed several red flags about the thing practices. hp shares fell to a ten year low last week after the company announced an almost 9 billion- dollar write down on its acquisition.